With an early summer heatwave sweeping through the Greater Sydney region, keepers at the Australian Reptile Park are working hard to ensure their animals stay cool.
With temperatures soaring to 41 degrees recently, the team is well prepared for the anticipated scorching days ahead and are out and about, using refreshing sprinklers, icy enrichment activities, and even treating their carnivores to tasty bloodsickles to beat the heat.
Keepers at the Central Coast’s award-winning wildlife park strive to keep the animals as cool as possible during the hot Australian summer, whether it be putting sprinklers on, making ice blocks containing their favourite food or simply giving the animals a cool shower – the keepers spend hot days providing comfort for each individual animal.
It’s hard not to smile when you see how much Hugo the Galapagos tortoise loves being sprayed with the hose, cuddly koalas relaxing under the cool misters, the formidable cassowary fluffing its feathers in happiness, the Tawny frogmouths stretching their wings out for an extra splash of water, the dingos lighting up at the excitement of a freezing cold blood ice block – named a “bloodsickle” by the keepers or Vegemite the Tasmanian Devil splashing around in his ice-cold pond – it’s as cute as it gets.
“Myself and the keepers will be doing our best to help all our animals beat the heat – they absolutely love it when we turn on the misters and sprinklers,” Operations Manager Billy Collett said.
Now we just need to make sure we keep the keepers cool as well,” Australian Reptile Park Operations Manager Billy Collett said.
“Wildlife such as birds will also be trying to stay out of the extreme heat, so to help the little guys, the best thing the public can do is leave out bowls of fresh water in shady areas of their backyard for smaller animals to have access to drinking water, and if they have any pets themselves, try and keep them in the cool as well.”